News & Media
Top issues facing Michigan health care for 2018
Michigan Lawmakers are faced with an ambitious election year agenda. Upcoming primary and general election contests ensure both that their attention will be on their home districts and that a lengthy and productive lame duck session is on the horizon. No breaking early for Lansing this year.
That means this year, as a physician, your voice matters more than ever.
The Michigan State Medical Society is working nonstop in and around the state Capitol to make changes that put patients first and support your work as a physician. By joining those efforts -- whether it's through a visit to your lawmaker's Lansing office, lobbing a phone call, or stopping by for in-district coffee hours -- you're making a very real difference.
That's important, because the stakes couldn't be higher, and the agenda couldn't more critical.
As lawmakers get back to work in Lansing this spring, we're asking them to take a long hard look at the top issues facing Michigan health care in 2018 -- to join us in our work to put patients first. Those issues include:
- Prior Authorization:
The red tape and bureaucracy health insurance companies force medical practices to navigate to secure prior authorization frustrate providers, exasperate patients, and slam practices with huge compliance costs. Worse, it's the kind of red tape that delays critical treatment for thousands of patients daily, drives patients away from medicines that work toward lower cost, less effective alternatives, and produces poorer health outcomes.
It's a system that's negatively impacting patients' well-being, and one we're fighting to change. - Maintenance of Certification
Patients' and physicians' right to care is at risk because of the duplicative bureaucratic process known as "Maintenance of Certification" (MOC). MOC red tape and insurance company policies far too often stand in between physicians and their patients. That's not just a hassle -- that's dangerous. - Opioids
Michigan is at the center of a national opioid crisis, but local physicians and MSMS are leading efforts to find life saving solutions. At the same time, we are working nonstop in Lansing to ensure that legislative reforms get to the heart of the problem and do not arbitrarily penalize physicians with additional paperwork demands. - Auto No-Fault
Michigan's auto no-fault system is the best in the nation, and it saves lives. Still, some continue to push proposals to eliminate it.
According to experts who've studied Michigan's system and what's happened in other states, eliminating auto no fault would hurt accident survivors and taxpayers alike, sending Medicaid costs in Michigan skyrocketing.
Auto no fault ensures accident survivors have long term access to the lifesaving care they need, and MSMS is leading the charge to protect the system. - EHR Interoperability
Electronic health records have the ability to make care faster, more seamless, and more effective. Unfortunately, an all-too-common lack of interoperability remains a major impediment to success for patients and for practices. Improving the system remains a priority. - Administrative hassles
Every year, lawmakers in Lansing and Washington, D.C. pass institute new statues and regulations that increase the administrative burden of practicing medicine. New treatment guidelines. New reporting guidelines. New insurance compliance guidelines. You name it.
Decreasing these burdens can get physicians away from the computer and the fax machine and back where they want to be, in the exam room and operating suite, helping their patients. - Physician health and wellness
Physician health and wellness couldn't be more important. Providing the best care to patients means keeping physicians on their games. Reducing administrative burdens. Improving workplace systems. Eliminating financial obstacles. Fighting burn out means fighting for physicians -- but it also means fighting for our patients. - Physician engagement
Active MSMS members make the society more effective. Your help is absolutely indispensable to the work we're doing in Lansing, and the work we're doing in Lansing can meaningfully impact your practice. Join us!
A physician's work is never truly done, and neither is ours at MSMS. Working together, we're making changes that matter.